Yesterday, I had a very thoughtful gift from a dear friend come in, and I wanted to write about my experience with it so far! Back in early March, Dries van Noten ventured into beauty by releasing lines of fragrance and lipstick. Dries is a designer who creates work I really enjoy, particularly the way he plays with bright colors and exciting textures. As a result, I was pretty excited for the launch, specifically the nuanced shades within the lipstick line and the special cases offered.
I had no plans to purchase any time soon, because of the price tag and the lack of available swatches. The lipsticks are $78 for case and refill both, with refills alone being $40. As far as swatches - his website has really beautiful swatch photos, but they're all the same photos with edited lips for each shade... which made me uncertain if the nuanced neutrals would actually be nuanced in real life. Simply put, the desire was 100% there but I knew it wasn't a great time to make the purchase.
Fast forward to last week, and a dear friend had reached out offering to gift me one of the brand's lipsticks. Definitely did not expect it, and I'm so thankful to them for doing that. They were also currently staying near a Dries van Noten store, so they were able to swatch the shades I was interested in, which made the final decision a lot easier. I was torn between Colorful Nude, Romantic Nude, and Tailored Nude.
After seeing their swatches, Tailored Nude ultimately ended up being my final decision - it leaned a lot cooler and more brown than the other two. When choosing that one, I was hoping it would fulfill a specific gap in my collection: "RdF Lilium but more opaque, less shiny, and cooler toned." I've had that gap in mind for a bit now, as I'm visiting the Bite Lip Lab next month for my birthday. The original plan was to make a shade similar to fill that gap, but I was a lot more excited at having the shade from Dries' line. I also got to select the refillable case, naturally I went with the lime green one. They also ordered the Selection La Cienega fragrance set, which features the scents I had expressed most interest in.
After they had placed the order, it took less than a week (including the weekend/holiday) for it to arrive, from Belgium all the way to the US. The order came in a white gift box, tied with a black bow, and the actual items were inside a drawstring bag made out of fabric from a prior runway collection. Specifically, the fabric was from Dries' 2017 Spring RTW collection, and the piece it was from can be found in this WWD gallery, it's look 53/67.
As far as the lipstick goes, it's perfect (for me) across the board. The component itself is weighted, with a really fun shade of lime green to contrast the black and white top.
It opens and closes easily, and putting the refill in was simple. I can't find this information on the site to confirm, but I believe the lipstick has a natural rose scent, and I really enjoy it! It's not too overpowering, and it doesn't linger long after application.
The finish of Tailored Nude is matte, but it's not a silicone-based matte or one that's overly drying. I've worn it twice so far, and had no complaints either time! It wears similar to other matte bullet lipsticks I have, and fades away gracefully throughout the day. The formula can also handle touch-ups well, unlike some silicone-based formulas that pill on themselves when touching up.When it comes to tone/finish/opacity of the lipstick, it definitely fills the gap I mentioned earlier, which was "RdF Lilium but more opaque, less shiny, and cooler toned."
I swatched it along with Rituel de Fille Lilium (left, sheer formula) and Byredo Earth Dust (right, satin formula), which were my two favorite nude lipsticks prior. Relative to both of them, Tailored Nude is more matte and opaque. Relative to RdF Lilium, it offers the same grungy neutral vibes, but with some purple/rose tones thrown in. It's the perfect compliment to both of them, and I can see myself reaching for it quite a bit. I have a feeling it's also the type of shade that will look different depending on what I pair it with, similar to RdF Lilium, but I can't say for sure yet. So far I've worn it with a bare face, and a cool/greenish-toned look. I'm really excited to wear it more. Lastly, I wanted to mention my thoughts on the fragrances so far! I don't have nearly as much to say about them yet, at this point I've only worn Neon Garden. It was one of the ones I was most curious about. Keeping my thoughts on it short, I don't get any mint from it but I do find it to be a really pleasant scent. Most of the fragrances I've enjoyed over time have musk, this one does too, but this is my first fragrance I've tried with ambroxan in it! I'm not familiar enough with the note to know the impact it has on the scent, but I really like it. I can't say I'd see myself purchasing a full size of any of Dries' scents, again due to price, but I'm looking forward to enjoying the vials in the set!
All of that said, I'm really excited to be able to experience part of Dries' beauty line... if it wasn't obvious! I also have to say, again, a big thank you to my friend who sent me these as a gift.